


Chained to the Grave

by ravenscrest



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Gen, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 12:47:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13435038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ravenscrest/pseuds/ravenscrest
Summary: Vax’ildan woke up to fabric inches above his face. It wasn't draped or hanging, it seemed more like an upholstered surface. The sheer peculiarity of that stunned him for a few moments, and he looked over the fabric above him. He could tell it was velvet, but he couldn’t tell the color in this circumstance. It didn’t seem familiar; he doubted it would be any more reassuring if it was.--The feast with the Briarwoods at the Sovereign's palace ends very differently. Vax'ildan is dead, and then he isn't.The title comes from the 5e Monster Manual (p 295).





	1. Jenga

**Author's Note:**

> This is less of a first chapter and more of a prologue/teaser. More will be coming.

Vax’ildan woke up to fabric inches above his face. It wasn't not draped or hanging, it seemed more like an upholstered surface. The sheer peculiarity of that stunned him for a few moments, and he looked over the fabric above him. He could tell it was velvet, but he couldn’t tell the color in this circumstance. It didn’t seem familiar; he doubted it would be any more reassuring if it was. He began to turn his head and found that his neck was incredibly stiff. In fact, all of him felt stiff. When he managed to turn his head, he noticed that the same fabric was on either side of him. He moved his arms from their crossed position over his chest and felt the surface he was laying on. Velvet. Vax’ildan furrowed his brow briefly, then chuckled as he realized the situation.

He was in a coffin.

He didn't know where he was - or where his family was - but he figured it couldn’t hurt to try. He carefully brought a hand to his earring.

“Jenga.”

He waited. There was no response. He tried pushing on the surface above him, but it didn't budge. He stilled and tried to think of a plan.

There was silence for a while. Vax didn't know how long. Eventually, the silence was broken by a muffled sound from somewhere above him. It hadn’t yet occurred to Vax that he could be buried, but there was no other way for him to explain the sound coming from above him. He stayed silent. It wasn’t his family, so there was no way to ensure that whatever was making sound could be trusted. The sound stopped, and it was silent for a moment before something started shifting directly over him. The shifting became rhythmic, slowly growing louder, until there was a thump. Someone was digging him up. Someone knew he was here, and it wasn't his family. The coffin jerked suddenly, shaking for a few moments before it hit what Vax assumed was the ground. The lid slowly cracked open. The moonlight seemed blinding for a moment, and he instinctively covered his face. His eyes adjusted, and he cautiously moved his arm.

Sylas and Delilah Briarwood were standing over him.

Delilah smiled.


	2. Displacement

Vax’ildan remembered the feast. He remembered sneaking away to the Briarwoods’ room. He remembered being held and getting free and calling “jenga.” He remembered leaping through the window. He remembered Sylas biting him and everything fading. Then he woke up in a coffin that the Briarwoods pulled out of the ground and opened.

Before Vax could even process what this meant, Sylas was holding out a hand to him. That just made his head spin more. He sat up, the stiffness slowly fading. His attempt to stand wasn’t as successful. Vax managed to get one foot flat on the ground, but the other leg was still too stiff. He looked to Sylas’ hand. Resigned, he raised his own and accepted Sylas’ help. Everything about it felt wrong. Knowing that he was taking help from someone who killed Percy’s family, who hurt Percy, made Vax’ildan feel sick.

That wasn’t the only thing that made his stomach flip, though. At the palace, Sylas’ skin had felt cold to the touch, like a corpse. His hand didn’t feel cold now. Vax quickly began putting the pieces together, although he hated the conclusion he kept coming to. Sylas helped him to his feet. Vax couldn’t explain why, but he felt unable to turn his focus from Sylas. Delilah might as well have not been there. Even when she broke the silence, Vax’ildan kept looking at Sylas.

“I assume you’re very confused.”

If the circumstances were even slightly different, Vax would laugh at that. The combination of the knot in his stomach and the pull he felt towards Sylas stifled any humor. Sylas nodded at him, and his head turned towards Delilah almost automatically. Very confused could not be more accurate. He realized he was waiting for something as he looked at Sylas. He was expecting a command. He retracted his hand and instinctively wiped it on his leg.

Delilah continued to smile at him. It made him want to punch her teeth out, but even he could judge that, given his situation, that would be a very bad idea.

“Sylas was very confused when he woke back up, too. This is normal,” she said, taking Sylas’ other hand. The Briarwoods looked at each other, apparently very pleased with themselves.

There was no other way Vax could interpret that statement. Not logically, anyway. It was the only thing that made any amount of sense. His hand twitched towards his belt, but he found nothing there. His belt and his daggers were gone. He clenched his fist.

“What did you do to me?” His gaze shifted back and forth between Sylas and Delilah. He was fairly certain he knew the answer, but he wasn’t an expert on these things by any means. Even if he was, he would still want to hear one of them say it. He needed to know for sure.

“Welcome to the family, Vax’ildan.” Sylas turned to look at Vax again, and Vax felt his gaze immediately focus on Sylas. “I think you will find that vampirism is far more rewarding than mortal life. Let’s go home, shall we?”

Delilah nodded, and the two turned around and started heading away - out of the woods, Vax’ildan noticed - and towards what must have been Whitestone. Everything in Vax’s mind was telling him to click his boots and at least try to get the fuck out of there, but he found himself unable to do so. He fell in step behind the Briarwoods. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t head the other way or even stop moving.

Something was very, very wrong.


End file.
